SCREEN PRINTING 101: SEPERATIONS

Fact. Geeking out over separations, new suppliers and products and innovative client-based projects is the norm at the Embroidery Factory, especially in my role. Hi, I’m Mark and I’m the Art Director at EF (that’s what we call it here, it’s a term of endearment). Below you’ll find a cheat cheat that outlines different separation types in hopes it helps you navigate a variety of questions that may come up when placing your order.

Spot Color
This is one of, if not the most popular of the separation types throughout the screen printing industry today. Spot Color separations are used for logos, school designs, clipart, hard edged graphics, cartoons or other designs that have a black or dark outline.

A Spot Color print can be a simple one-color design or a complex ten color gem. It can include a large amount of shading, gradations and detail. However, these types of designs generally have a flat, cartoon-like look and are not photorealistic.

Process Color
Process Color images are comprised of four colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black and are often referred to as CMYK. The "K" stands for Black. All photos printed in paper such as a magazine, newspaper or catalogs are printed using only these four colors.

Process Color prints on T-shirts traditionally work well on white or other very light colored shirts. Quite the opposite stands true for black garments as the inks used in CMYK Process Color are very transparent.

Simulated Process Color
Also known as SIM, Simulated Process Color images have a photorealistic look but are not printed with the same Process Colors of CMYK. It look like process, feels like process but it’s definitely not the process. Simulated Process Color separations can be printed on light AND dark shirts.

The color separations for Simulated Process Color are comprised of halftone images of Spot Colors such as Red, Yellow, Blue. They are often called “tonal” or “channel” separations. When done correctly, Simulated Process Color prints can be very photorealistic with smooth gradations and bright colors.

Index Color
This is the newest and probably the most confusing of the separation types. Why? Because Index Color separations use random square dots that are all the same size. Index Color separations are done in Adobe Photoshop by creating a color table of the most prominent colors in your image (and the most colors you are capable of printing). The software then converts the image to those colors using random square dots. Photoshop will make (or try to make) the image look as close as the original as possible with just the limited number of colors you selected.

If you’ve made it this far, we understand some of this may be confusing or simply too much information. If this is the case, no worries. if you have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to just click the “RFQ” button on the top of the page and call it a day. We look forward to guiding you through this process to ensure your finished product is a work of art!

Creative regards,

Mark
Art Director